Jana Leigh (8 page)

Her eyes cut to Grant who shifted in the corner listening intently and looking at her reaction.  She couldn
’t explain why she felt drawn to him but she did.  And she wanted him to believe what Jessie was saying too.  As she looked between the two drop dead gorgeous men, she thought what wonderful fathers they would be, not like her father who ruled their home with fear.  Grant was kind, attentive, and had a great sense of humor.  She had crazy thoughts of what it would feel like to be wrapped in his arms, sitting in front of a fire.

Then she looked at Jessie, he was raw
masculinity at its finest.  She knew he was gruff on the outside but soft in the middle, she had seen it.  The one glorious night they spent together had shown her what it would be like to belong to Jessie.  It was something she longed for now.  He was like Godiva chocolate, once you actually could afford a taste of it, you felt cheated with any other.  Grant was the only man she thought would be the exception to that.  She felt the same way about both of them.  How on earth was she ever going to lose either of them.  They would both make wonderful fathers and role models, just like her brother would have.

She
felt the tears flow as she thought about her brother getting to see his nephew.  Her son closed his eyes in a soft sigh and laid his head on her chest and she watched the hair still move. 

“
I want to name him Marcus,” Brin whispered.  “So he will always remember what a brave and wonder man his uncle was.”

She felt a brush against her cheek and she leaned into it.  Who cared if she didn
’t understand what was going on.  What mattered is she believed it.  Her brother was here with her, when she needed him the most.

Once she finished, she looked at Jessie who took their son and settled into the chair he had pulled up to the side of the bed.  Grant leaned against the wall, looking tense, but determined.  She opened the letter and took a deep breath before readi
ng.

Sis,

If you are getting this, something shitty happened.  Sorry for the cuss words already, but you know I never really cared about etiquette.  You also know I am writing you because I know you will listen to what I want.

Jessie is the one who is del
ivering this, I know because he promised he would.  Remember when we were younger, and we went camping in the mountains of Colorado—Remember how peaceful it was?  That is what I want for you and Cynthia, peace.  We never had that when we were growing up, not with our parents.  But I refuse to spend the time I am writing this last letter to be wasted on talking about them. 

I have an account set up for both of you, I know you are listed as the death beneficiary, and that you will split it with
Cynthia, this is separate.  Something I want you and Cynthia to use to get away from you know what.  Use the money to set yourselves up as far away as you need to.  Jessie can help you with that, I trusted him with my life, and you can too.

I know I left you and
Cynthia behind when I left, you will never know how much I regretted that.  The only thing that made it right was that
he
left you both alone.  I was his punching bag.  I also told him if he touched you, I would kill him.  I had no choice, no proof or I would have gone to the cops.  I'm sorry I failed you like that.  I love you and Cynthia so much, and I will miss not being there as you both grow into women and find your way in the world.  Both of you are amazing young women. 

I just want you to be happy, so ple
ase let Jessie help you.  Brin, I am so proud of what you accomplished, so proud to call you my sister.  Everything you are and everything you have done is solely due to you.  Your strength and your determination is what got you through.  Getting your degree is all on you, not them.  Don’t let anyone take that away from you. 

I love you
, sis, remember that always.  I will be on your side no matter what.  When you need a little help just think of me and I will be there.

Mark

“Damn it,” Brin sniffed.  “I hate crying.”

Both of the men stood there watching her gather herself.  She felt like she was exposed to them, all of her emotions sitting on her
shirtsleeve, just raw and open.  It sucked.

“
You don’t have to be a certain way around us,” Grant said softly. “I mean we have only known each other for a short time, I gotta tell you, though, I really hope that is going to change, but for now you don’t have to hold shit in for us.  I mean we did see you give birth and everything, that has to be good for something.”

Brin laughed, and looked up.  “
Yeah, you got to see me at my worst.  I suppose all snotty-faced and teary eyed is better than that.”

“
Hey,” Jessie whispered as not to wake Marcus who was sleeping on his chest.  “I thought you looked beautiful when I first came in yesterday.”

“
Right, okay so when I am going to be sprung from here.  We have a lot of things to get done if you think you are gonna whisk me away to some ugly and horrid tropical paradise.  I mean we need to make sure there are baby things in place.  I have not had a chance to get things in place yet,” Brin said, trying to sound positive.  She was going to listen to her brother and put her trust in Jesse.

“
No worries, we have a plan.”  Jessie laughed and looked at Grant who shook his head.  Things would certainly be interesting for the next few hours if nothing else.

Grant looked at his childhood friend and smiled as they waited for the nurse to bring Brin and the baby out to the truck.  If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he never would have guessed his friend would be so nervous.  His teammate, Drake, was already at the hotel, checking things out to make sure they were covered.

It was strange, over the last forty-eight hours, meeting Jessie again had seemed like something that was missing in his life finally clicked back into place.  When his mother died last year
, he felt completely alone.  His restlessness seemed to be gone when he thought about reconnecting with his friend.  Now he understood why, Jessie and he had spoken well into the night last night about what they wanted and what they thought they could be to the right woman.

Grant wanted to give this a chance, he wanted to see if he could find the type of love his uncles and aunt had found.  Jessie paced, and Grant grinned at his friend.  “
Nervous?”

“
Terrified," Jessie snorted.  “You know out of all the missions I have been on this is probably the scariest, I mean I could seriously fuck up here, and then not only would Brin be effected but so would Marcus.” 

Grant laughed and slapped his hand on his friend
’s shoulder, “Dude, this is what I am here for!”

Jes
sie felt relief in his friend’s words.  He knew that entering into a ménage relationship with him would be the only way he could ever do this.  Grant and Jessie were like two halves that made a whole, and together they were going to convince Brin they could make this work.

When they left the hospital yesterday, Grant had arranged for a little shopping trip to the closest baby store.  Of course, Jabo caught wind of it, and insisted on coming with them, claiming he had not actually been in a store like that b
efore and wanted to know if they had any Duck Dynasty baby clothes.

The outing had proven to be as entertaining as Grant thought.  All three of the men had been out of their element, but that hadn't dissuaded them.  Instead, they had driven the workers at
the large store nuts with all of their questions.  The manager had finally given up and helped when the men insisted on having everything gift wrapped because Brin had not had a proper baby shower.

With many calls to Sable and the other ladies, they final
ly got everything a baby could need, and probably a lot more.  Hell, they were going to have to have a separate plane for all the shit they bought, Jabo had announced.  The kicker had been when they stopped at the local gun shop to get a gun safe, you couldn’t start too soon teaching gun safety.

When they arrived back at the hospital the doctor had told them Brin and Marcus would be released this morning.  Because they needed another day to prepare on the island, they were not set to leave until the followi
ng morning when the plane arrived from Healing with the others aboard to get them.  So for the night, they were staying at Vince’s motel.  Tulu had a great time arranging that for them, making sure they would have everything they needed for the night.

Gran
t was staying with them also; overnight he had informed his partners that he would be taking a leave of absence and he closed up the bungalow.  Jessie had been shocked to see the man had barely moved into the house.  When asked, Grant said it didn’t feel like a home yet. 

They had also spoken about how they were going to deal with Brin.  Both of them agreed they wanted her, and both agreed
they would take it slow, let her get comfortable with the notion of two men.  When Jessie explained about his friends' lifestyle, instead of being horrified, Brin had been curious.  That gave both of them hope that she would be open-minded.

“
Where are they?” Jessie grumbled and resumed his pacing.

“
The nurse said the doctor was filling a prescription for her, since we were flying to an island where there is not hospital, he wanted to make sure she had what she needed in case of an emergency.”  Grant laughed and then said, “So Healing, Wyoming?”

Jessie looked at his friend and smiled.  “
Yeah, we are ranchers now.”

“
I just can’t see that yet, man.”  Grant laughed and shook his head.

“
Well, maybe seeing is believing.  When this shit is all done, we could probably use our own vet there,” Jessie said smoothly.

“
Real subtle.”  Grant laughed.

“
Hey, keep an open mind,” Jessie argued.

“
Things are moving fast,” Grant said slowly.

“
Sometimes it happens like that,” Jessie said.  “One day you think you are on top of the world.  Doing what you love to do, then the next you are flat on your back and having to change your life.”

Grant looked at Jessie closer.  “
Regrets?”

“
Too many to count,” Jessie admitted.

The door swished open before they were able to continue the conversation.  Brin and Marcus were wheeled out to the front and both men moved with a smile to help her out of the
chair.  

Brin loved that both of the men were fussing over her and Marcus.  Although she also recognized the fact that soon she was going to get irritated with their hovering. 
For now she would let it slide, she liked the feeling of being safe. 

They had arrived at the hotel with a flourish of activity.  Jabo and Sassy had gotten out at the same time and insisted on following them.  Then Brin saw Jabo
’s truck, it had to be because he apparently finished the strange paint job that he wanted to show off.  Sassy explained to her that a few days ago the truck had been painted half baby blue and half baby pink because the man had been so excited about becoming a father.  When Sassy had a boy instead of the girl she had been telling him they were having, the man apparently bought out the rest of the baby blue spray paint in town and finished the job, writing ‘It is a Boy’ in dark blue paint across both doors.  They had named their son Titus, which was now written across the hood.  The truck was an eye sore, but Brin could appreciate a man who was that excited about his child.

Once they arrived to the small strip motel, Brin had even been more surprised to find half of the town of Smith
and Wesson in the parking lot, they had tents and tables set up and were smoking some kind of animal, Brin was afraid to ask and so she convinced herself it was a pig.  Apparently, this was how they welcomed new town members into the fold.  Titus and Marcus were both celebrated as new citizens. 

Grant and Jessie got Brin settled in a chair with Marcus, and then preceded to get her a plate of food and a large glass of punch.  She watched as the town people arrived with more food and presents for not only Sa
ssy but her as well.  Just small things that she needed like, a diaper bag filled to the brim with little things, and packages of diapers.  She was feeling overwhelmed with this town.

An older man walked up to them, this was Vince, she remembered.  He owne
d the motel and was generous with the room situation.  Brin and Jessie had argued about it for an hour last night.  She refused to share a room with him.  When she found out that Grant was also staying and Jessie only booked them one room, she had refused to leave until they had another room.  Both men found it humorous, but they complied with her requests.

These were such wonderful people
, she thought as she watched both Vince and Bob the banker walking around with pitchers of sweet tea.  Jessie and Grant were sitting on either side of her as they ate and talked, Brin listened half-heartedly but when she heard ‘island’ she listened closer.

“
So where exactly is this island?” Grant asked.

“
Not sure,” Jessie admitted.  “It is off the coast of Texas that’s all I know.  Hey, I trust Alex’s family, they are more anal than we are about security,” Jessie commented.

“
Tell me about them,” Brin asked.  “I mean, I think I have met almost all of the team at one time or another.  I liked them, but what about the women?”

J
essie smiled.  “You will love them.  Sable is Wolfman’s sister.  Alex and Slone met her when we went to help her after the bombings.  She had a problem with a stalker.  Sable is a few months pregnant and loving every minute of it.”

“
Are Slone and Alex jealous at all, whose baby is it?” Brin asked.  When she had heard about the ménage relationships it hadn’t bothered her, but she did have a lot of questions.  And she certainly wasn’t going to ask strangers about private things.

“
No, both men feel like they are the father.  That is the way it is with ménage relationships.  They accept the fact that all children born will be theirs,” Jessie said slowly, looking at Grant who nodded.

“
My uncles are in a ménage relationship.  My cousins said it was a great way to grow up.  One of the dads was always there, and my aunt was the happiest woman you have ever seen.  She loved both men with all her heart,” Grant said quietly.  “You know, there is something to be said about that lifestyle.  It is not for everyone, men are men after all.  But I think if the men really want it, and they have a good relationship, it would be a happy home.” 

Brin chewed on her bottom lip and looked down at her child.  She wondered what it would be like to have two men to rely on so much.  She
wanted to go back to work and use her degree, but even with one husband, it would be hard.  Doctors could work some long hours. 

Vince came to the table and she smiled when he filled her glass.  “
Hey, Vince.”

“
Well, how is our newest member of the community doing there?” Vince said and laughed when Marcus startled and opened his eyes.  “He is a handsome devil.”

Brin smiled.  “
That he is,” she whispered and then sighed when Grant reached over and took the small bundle in his arms and Brin felt a sense of peace. 

“
So, how is Tulu?” Vince said hopefully, looking at Jessie closely.

“
She is fine, getting settled and all that,” Jessie said vaguely.  She was actually getting ready to go into hiding but there was no way he was announcing that.  Especially not in this heavily armed town.

“
Her phone is not working, you know anything about that?” Vince asked frowning.

“
Uh,” Jessie said and Drake came up next to the older man and slapped him on the shoulder.

“
Hey, Vince, we need to talk,” Drake said and pulled the man away.

“
What is going on?” Brin asked quietly.

“
Vince seemed to take a liking to Tulu when she was here.  I guess he hasn't been told yet about everyone’s plans.”  Jessie shrugged.

“
Aww, that is so cute, you should at least let him know she is safe and not ignoring him,” Brin argued.

“
Drake will take care of it.  Now, do you need to go rest for a while?” Jessie said smoothly.

Jabo and Sassy came to their table, sat down with them, and smiled. 
So much for the rest,
Jessie thought.  He was hoping to get a few minutes alone with Brin and Grant.  They planned to talk to her about what they wanted to see if she was open to it.

“
Hey, ya’ll,” Sassy said with her small bundle tucked into the crook of her arm. 

Brin and Sassy began tal
king while the men listened and looked around the parking lot.  It had a great visual on the road, so when the same black SUV drove by three times Jessie began to get a little nervous.  He looked at the men around the table, meeting their eyes and motioning to the street.  Grant and Jabo both picked up the cues and watched as well.  When the SUV slowed and turned into a parking lot across the street, Jessie and Jabo stood.

“
Get the women inside,” Jabo said shortly.

“
Why?” Brin asked until she saw the look on Jessie’s face.  It was cold and hard, she looked at Grant who nodded and gathered both of the women and hustled them into the small motel room while the rest of the men in town seemed to know something was going on, and ushered the rest of the women to other rooms.  Before she knew it, Brin was staring out the small window looking at a wall of armed men whose backs were to her, standing like sentries.